Increased demand for corals in Vietnam could lead to reefs becoming exhausted within 20 years experts said today.

Nyugen Tac An, the Director of Vietnam\'s Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, told the Vietnam News that human contamination and over exploitation could cause reefs to be irrepairably damaged within 20 years.

The Vietnam News says that its reefs are among the most threatened in the South Asia, with approximately 80% threatened by human activity, with the main problems being shrimp breeding, over fishing and \"coral exploitation for trade\".

Coral is already widely used in the area to make limestone for cleaning shrimp cages, but use has recently increased due to its use as dried ornaments for household decoration.